Gabriel refused to keep talking with the Seer, she wanted to directly question him about his origins, his life, his story, all to understand the bigger picture, but he didn't care.

He was not tied to any military rank, although a general in political weight, Gabriel didn't care, his I.D. was registered to The Cradle, but he was not part of their military. So he left, leaving behind Olivia, Gaia, the Seer, and passing through the major that was waiting for him at the elevator.

Gabriel closed the door behind himself and rode it alone.

He placed his back against the transparent wall and sighed. Liz manifested herself in front of him.

She looked at him with pity.

"What?"

The lizard started mimicking; she joined her hands and moved them up and down in opposite directions, then she brought them high behind her shoulders and finally shrugged.

"Not to think about it? How can I not think about it, Liz? They abducted my mother, killed my father, and since there's been no mention of my sister, I can only think the worst..."

Gabriel really felt like crying. All he could possibly do was train, train, and train. But could he ever become strong enough to face an entire organization of people that spread on a multi-planetary scale all by his lonesome?

He scoffed. Yeah, right…

True powerlessness; that was what he was feeling that moment.

As he got out of the elevator, Gabriel let himself fall deep in his thoughts, losing his way among the hundreds of tunnels. Letting his sense of self disperse and delivering himself to the oblivion of the senses. What need was there to think? What even was there to think about since by dong that he could not get anywhere.

So Gabriel wandered, he wandered, and by the time he stopped… he found himself in front of a peculiar sign. A signboard he had already seen somewhere. It red: Destiny Trade.

A rather recent memory, belonging to the pre-challenge period resurfaced in his mind.

He, Olive, and Sigmund were walking through Kanceldom when his eyes fell upon a similar signboard.

What did Olivia say about it? He couldn't remember. But he wouldn't have cared all the same.

The door was open, so he simply walked in.

The bell ringed automatically at his passage; it was a pleasant sound, not the buzzers he was used too.

"Coming!" Came a voice.

Gabriel wasn't really expecting anything, but what appeared before him surprised him yet again.

What couldn't else be defined but as a gnome came trotting over to him?

Today really is a day full of surprises.

"What can I do for you?"

Gabriel did not answer. The gnome was a tiny little thing, looking really cute, with a big head and a disproportionate body. It was young, or at least it looked young like a toddler whose body never grew but gained the ability to move like a proper man.

It was two feet at best.

"I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle of something. If you don't require anything, I'm gonna go back to the laboratory."

"No, wait. I wanted to know, uh, what place is this?"

"A Destiny shop. What else?" His high voice was actually rather manly despite his figure.

"Yeah, I have no idea what that really is. I'm new to Alter," Gabriel said.

Liz wandered around the shop, sniffing here and there and touching jars and objects with her little paws.

"New to Alter. Then welcome! You've chosen a wonderful place in which to stay. There's no place better than Yggdrasil. Especially with people endowed with mastery over the Spirit."

The little man sounded really earnest. He was a breath of fresh air.

"Oh, that's nice… thank you. I'm Gabriel, by the way, but what is this mastery over Spirit you're talking about?"

"Grogi! Oh, it's that." He pointed at Liz.

"You are a Druid. Like Druids, Shamans, and Priests, you can govern your Spirit. Something not many can do. But the human Spirit is malleable. And most of you are born without the boundaries that classify other races. It must be for this reason that your species adapts so well to many environments. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic." Grogi coughed, "Here I work with Spirit, to be precise, I work with Shaman Magic. It's the only school I can reproduce with my Magic set, but I couldn't hope for better. Not to say how wonderful it is to live by Yggdrasil and the Spirit regeneration it offers. It seems I keep getting off-topic…" he trailed-off.

Gabriel chuckled, "Well, what does this shop offer?"

"Well, mostly drugs." The answer was curt and concise.

"Uh? Drugs, like, drugs, drugs?" Gabriel lowered his voice and brought a hand to cover his mouth, "Like Heroin?"

"Heroin? Is it that Earth chemical drug? Why would I sell that? No, no, no. Completely off-track. I sell spirit ointments, dilation drugs, detachment pills, introspection anchors, those kinds of things. They serve well everybody who has a weird affinity with its own Spirit. It mostly helps in making you connect with yourself. I think you might need one," he added, pointing at the lizard which had put a jar on her head, and was moving around like that.

"Liz!" Gabriel ran before she did any damage, which obviously turned to be too late.

"That'll be twenty-six units."

Gabe sighed.

"Alright, here it is." He put his head on the mouth of his bag, almost right behind his neck, and called for his ManaCard.

"Gold! If you just got here, you must be backed by some powerful family. Which is it, tell me. Yamamoto? Wagner? Don't tell me it's the Reevers?"

Gabriel smiled. "It's the Reevers! You must be a rising star then… what was your name again?"

Gabe laughed, "Gabriel, my name is Gabriel. But you can call me Gabe, Gorgi. Tell me, do you offer lessons in Shaman Magic?"

"Lessons? That is… unexpected; not many ask for something. It is almost taboo here, however, for the right price. Why not? But first things first, you need to tell me about your Hard and Soft Magic. If those two don't match, then you cannot process Shaman Magic."

"Hard Magic? Yes, Dark Element," he so, the gnome, raise a finger to count, noticing that he had only four fingers on his hands. "While Soft Magic I still don't have any, I might rather soon, though."

"Well, you are halfway through, but Life Magic and the right Perks are required to create Higher Magic."

"I've got Mana Manipulation and Sight," Gabriel suggested with an almost interrogative tone.

"No Magic Circles? Why!?" Gorgi seemed almost scandalized.

"Well, I got Skill Trap…"

"But why? Are you a hunter? A marksman of some kind? Why take it if you already had a Hard Magic Skill," shaking his head, his body almost undulated.

"It's a long story… Is it necessary?"

"To use attacking and defensive Skills? Obviously. For utilities like my job kind of production? Not at all. As long as you buy a Runic omnicircle, you may switch runes and forms to your liking, instead of inscribing them over and over again on your work table."

"Omnicircle? What is it? It sounds like some sort of all-purpose foldable magic circle," Gabriel asked with a smile.

"Why, that's a rather well-constructed definition. Did you already know the product?" Gorgi pointed at something behind one of his showcases.

"Really? I just tried to guess…"

He shrugged, "you guessed correctly then. Do you want to buy one? I could get you the latest model if you like?"

"I… I don't know, I've still not fully understood what I'm dealing with here, but could you set me up for a lesson? I'm bound to stay in The Cradle here a while, I guess."

"Well, since you seem the type to guess correctly over and over again, I have all the reasons to believe you. What did you think of 500 units a lesson?" Gorgi said, rather tentatively.

Gabriel, trained in the art of bargaining, understood immediately what was going on.

"That's a scam. I say 100."

"What!? I'm a professional. I won't go lower than 250!"

There you are.

"I don't doubt your abilities, master gnome, but I doubt 125 is a low price to teach for someone who still lacks even the basics. I'm not asking for a crash course nor a master's degree."

"150! And it's a deal! You are bleeding me dry!"

"Deal," Gabriel ended with a smile, The gnome is definitely young, but at least he has his own store at his age; I gotta give him that.

"When do we start?"

"Tomorrow, in the evening. But you'll have to buy your supplies only from me. Or our deal is concluded!"

"Wouldn't have done differently. Then see you tomorrow, at… eight o clock?"

"Perfect. Bring spare clothes; it might get… messy."

Gabriel arched an eyebrow. Are we sure we're not dealing with actual drugs here, Liz?

 

Feeling refreshed, Gabriel wanted to head for The Cradle. He even thought about going to visit Dustille, but she was present during the revelation; falling into talking about the argument would be inevitable, and he wanted only to evade that topic as much as possible. So there was only one real place he could go to, no. It would be better to say, return to.

Finding the road to The Cradle wasn't actually that hard. The Veins were big, but there were road signs everywhere. The lower-tree was divided into two alveoli, one hosting The Cradle and the other hosting Wallcity; in the same way, the middle-level was subdivided into a north and south district, the north one led to The Cradle, the south led to the military city and the Rapids of Mana. Gabriel headed for the northern part, but before he took the elevator downstairs, he chose to do something he definitely needed. He went to a barber.

Less than half an hour later, his still too short for his liking hair had a semblance of order, while his beard finally had meaning. He decided to let it grow, for the moment at least. It had been a few years since last he did. The etiquette was that the personnel at Rain Season was clean-shaven for those dwelling in the hall and dealing with clients. Yes, it just meant him and the occasional helper for full days, still. It was self-imposed, and he abided by his own rules.

The trip to The Cradle was quick and uneventful. He asked for directions to some Dark Elves he met on the road and was quickly led to the elevator that would bring him the closest to his destination.

For some reason, he felt… thrilled. It had been a long time since he felt so elated. The people at the Wandering Hearth had treated him wonderfully. Though, he was entirely out of his own comfort zone, Commodo, and Garena... He had to admit, later Olivia, too, made him feel at home.

God only knew if it wasn't something he needed right now.

I think I'm shivering with anticipation. What is even going on with me?

Liz whipped her tongue happily by his side.

 

As the elevator reached his destination and opened up, he was faced with the vastness of The Cradle. Its absurdly-tall ceiling, its studied light placements, the azure shades of the braziers that seemed to shine while hit by the daylight. Then there was the feeling of being in a playground, with all those ups and downs. Different levels of building placements.

And then… the people.

There were so many of them. People running, kids playing, the police force with its regular leather armor instead of the military's midnight blue. The stalls, the vendors, the noise!

He could feel his eyes wet.

What the hell… Gabriel thought happily as he passed his fingers on them.

What's getting onto me. Get a grip! He ordered himself.

Gabriel took the closest road to the Hearth. He could see the structure even from here. It was tall and standing on one of the highest and widest roots, almost emerging like a castle on top of the other constructions. It was a sight to see.

As he got closer, he started noticing that something had changed. The signboard had been rewritten. It displayed a massive hearth now at its center, and all-around a globe, the writing, 'Wandering Hearth' opened in a joyful font.

The Dwarf knows his game; he couldn't help but think.

 

As he closed even more on the inn, he started feeling the fracas. It was lunchtime, after all. People, adventurers, guards, students, and those that enjoyed the air would be already suffocating the staff with requests.

Gabriel decided thus to do one big entrance just as Olivia had done when first they met.

The bat door was there. Excellent!

 

Crash!

 

The whole hall sucked its breath, probably waiting for the Dwarf's reaction. Which did not let itself wait.

"Ye little son of a-! How do you dare… Laddie? LAD!" Commodo gasped!

"Garena! It's the lad! He's back!" He shouted.

Gabriel did not wait at the entrance. He did not expect anything too dramatic, like receiving a hug, though somehow he hoped, he got closer. Taking out something from his bag.

Gabe right away noticed the green hair peculiar to Olivia. She had probably had the same idea. But she most probably had much, much more to worry about. She probably had to beg for forgiveness, or so he thought, which judging by the air, might not have been so.

Gabriel slammed Commodo's old bag on the counter.

"Com," he said resolute, "I wouldn't have made it out alive without these. I'm sorry for its state. But I swear I'll repay it."

Before Com could comment, Gabriel turned the other way, facing the hall.

"ONE ROUND IS ONE ME! NO! MAKE IT TWO!"

A booming echo of drinks and shouts made the walls shake, and every patron raised their mugs in the air to celebrate.

Gabriel did not even have the time to turn around again that another of his acquaintances appeared in front of him.

A gelled air, Elf which he now could recognize as a… he actually had no idea what he was, since his hair was too platinum more than white to be of the Spring Forest, yet not blond enough to be of the Winter Forest.

"You had me go through quite some trouble last week, Gabriel," Varcivald sized him up. "But I guess it was worth it. Look at you! You've grown so much in one month. I can feel it from your Inner-Aura!"

"Varcivald! I still have no idea what an Aura really entails, but I'm gonna get one myself!" He said, embracing the Elves.

Varcivald didn't seem to be used to it, but it only took him a couple of seconds to hug the young man back.

"Gabriel!"

It was Garena.

Still in her kitchen apron, the she-orc got out of the definitely renewed counter and took Gabriel into a big hug, raising him in the air.

"Garena… you are more stunning than I recalled, sometimes I wonder how Com has managed to tie you down with him. Are you sure he doesn't drug your tea? I say in love everything is permitted, but that's going overboard," said Gabriel with a smug smile.

Varcivald faked a sigh, "Truer words have never been heard…"

"Indeed," Garena answered with a stunning Duchenne smile, "I should start checking my tea."

Commodo started turning red as a tomato, "I would never! Don't listen to these smoke-coughing jerks me love. I know ye love me for my mind!"

"Of course I do, you silly Dwarf!" Answered Garena, raising him up and giving him a kiss.

"I had a feeling! When I saw the lassie, I had a feeling you'd come too! Laddie! But how are ye!? Tell me all about it! Are you hungry!? Did my bag serve ye well!? What happened to it!?"

Commodo didn't even give him time to answer before starting with another question. And Gabriel couldn't help but loving that aspect of him. It felt so genuine… it reminded him of- his mother.

Gabriel shook his head. No. Today it's among friends, no thinking about things I cannot fix.

Liz jumped on the counter, and Commodo exclaimed, "For the pulled beard of my granny! Who's this Spirit!? Don't tell me this is that tiny lizard!?"

"Lizzy, is that you?" Garena.

"This is your Spirit? Oh my… What level did you reach in such a short time, Gabriel!? It's impressive!"

"I'll tell you everything about it, but first! Give something to drink! A pint! No! Six!"

From behind came laughs and cheers.

Gabriel's eyes reached Olivia's. And for a little, only for a little, he hoped he could be there with him that she had never lied to him, that she had never faked herself. But he could not evade thinking about how little he could trust her now; at the same time, he knew her now. She had been as broken as he was right now. She might have had time to heal. However, some wounds do never.